Developer Advocacy

Developer Advocacy

When to Use

Use this skill when the user wants to plan or execute developer advocacy activities. Trigger phrases include:

• "developer advocacy" / "devrel"
• "conference talk" / "CFP" / "call for papers"
• "live coding" / "demo prep"
• "podcast" / "podcast pitch"
• "building in public" / "social presence"
• "advocacy metrics" / "advocacy report"

This skill covers the full advocacy lifecycle: finding conferences, writing talk proposals, preparing live demos, pitching and appearing on podcasts, building in public, managing social presence, and measuring impact.

Prerequisites

1. Load audience context first. Before any advocacy work, read .agents/developer-audience-context.md to understand:

   • Who you're trying to reach (conferences they attend, podcasts they listen to)
   • What topics resonate (pain points, interests)
   • Your product's positioning (what story to tell)
   • Voice & tone (how formal/technical to be)

2. If the context file does not exist, run the developer-audience-context skill first to generate it.

3. Templates live in this skill. Use them at these moments:

   • Conference talk proposal — CFP template in §1.2.
   • Live coding demo — pre-demo checklist in §2.2.
   • Podcast guest pitch — pitch template in §3.2.
   • Monthly advocacy report — report template in §6.3.

Procedure

1. Conference Talks

1.1 Finding the Right Conferences

1.2 Writing a Talk Proposal (CFP)

Winning formula:

Specific Problem + Unique Angle + Clear Takeaways = Accepted Talk

CFP Template:

# Title
[Action verb] + [specific outcome] + [with/using what]
Example: "Building Real-Time Features with Edge Functions and WebSockets"

# Abstract (100-200 words)
[Hook: Problem or curiosity gap]
[What you'll cover]
[What attendees will learn/be able to do]

# Description (detailed, for reviewers)
[Problem context]
[Why this approach]
[Talk structure]
[Your credibility to give this talk]

# Outline
- [Time] Introduction / Problem statement
- [Time] Section 1
- [Time] Section 2
- [Time] Section 3
- [Time] Live demo / walkthrough
- [Time] Key takeaways / Q&A

# Audience
[Who this is for]
[Prerequisite knowledge]
[What they'll learn]

# Bio
[Your relevant experience]
[Why you're qualified]

Title patterns that work:

Talk types:

1.3 Talk Prep Checklist

2. Live Coding & Demos

2.1 The 10-3-1 Rule

• Run your demo 10 times in practice
• Have 3 checkpoints you can jump to if stuck
• 1 backup (video recording of it working)

2.2 Pre-Demo Checklist

• Close unnecessary apps
• Clear browser history/tabs
• Notifications OFF (Slack, email, calendar)
• Font size: 24pt+ for terminal, 20pt+ for editor
• Git stash/branch for clean starting point
• Environment variables ready
• Test on the actual projector/screen if possible

2.3 Demo Danger Zone — Risk Mitigation

2.4 Live Coding Tips

3. Podcast Guesting

3.1 Finding Podcasts

3.2 Pitch Template

Subject: Guest Idea: [Specific Topic] for [Podcast Name]

Hi [Host Name],

I've been listening to [Podcast] for [time] — loved your episode on [specific episode].

I'd love to come on and talk about [specific topic]. Here's the angle:

[2-3 sentences on what you'd discuss and why it matters to their audience]

A bit about me:
- [Relevant credential 1]
- [Relevant credential 2]
- [Link to past podcast/talk]

Would this be a fit?

[Your name]

3.3 Pre-Podcast Prep

3.4 During the Podcast

3.5 Post-Podcast

4. Building in Public

4.1 What to Share

4.2 Build in Public Formats

4.3 What NOT to Share

5. Social Presence (Twitter/X)

5.1 Content Mix

5.2 Tweet Formats That Work

5.3 Engagement Strategy

5.4 Growing Your Presence

6. Measuring Impact

6.1 Advocacy Metrics

6.2 Attribution Signals

Developer advocacy impact is notoriously hard to measure. Use these proxy metrics:

6.3 Monthly Advocacy Report

# Developer Advocacy Report - [Month]

## Talks & Appearances
- [Talk 1]: [Conference], [Attendees], [Link]
- [Podcast 1]: [Show], [Episode link]

## Content Published
- [Article 1]: [Views], [Engagement]
- [Video 1]: [Views]

## Social Growth
- Twitter: +X followers, Y impressions
- Notable tweets: [Links]

## Community
- Discord/Slack: +X members, Y messages
- Notable threads/discussions

## Learnings
- What worked: [X]
- What didn't: [Y]
- Trying next: [Z]

7. Advocacy Career Path

8. Tools

Pitfalls

• Skipping audience context. Writing a CFP or pitch without loading .agents/developer-audience-context.md leads to generic proposals that get rejected. Always load context first.
• No demo backup. Live demos fail. If you have no pre-recorded fallback or checkpoint commits, you risk a blank screen in front of hundreds of attendees. Follow the 10-3-1 rule.
• Hard-selling on podcasts. Overt product pitches damage host relationships and reduce future invitations. Promote subtly; lead with value and stories.
• Oversharing sensitive data. Never share customer data, security details, or team conflicts when building in public. This breaks privacy, trust, and professionalism.
• Ignoring attribution. Advocacy without measurement is invisible to leadership. Always include proxy metrics and "how did you hear about us?" tracking in your reporting.
• Inconsistent social presence. Posting in bursts then going silent kills algorithmic reach. Post daily and engage daily for sustained growth.
• Under-practicing talks. One practice run is not enough. Aim for 3 full run-throughs in the final 2 weeks, plus a recording for self-review.

Verification

1. Audience context loaded:

   Test-Path .agents\developer-audience-context.md
   

   Expected output: True. If False, run the developer-audience-context skill first.

2. CFP completeness check — Confirm your proposal has all required sections:

   Select-String -Path .\cfp-draft.md -Pattern "^# (Title|Abstract|Description|Outline|Audience|Bio)"
   

   Expected: 6 matching lines. If fewer, add the missing sections.

3. Demo checkpoint commits exist:

   git tag --list "checkpoint-*"
   

   Expected: at least 3 tags (e.g., checkpoint-1, checkpoint-2, checkpoint-3).

4. Font size for live coding — Verify terminal and editor fonts are 24pt+ and 20pt+ respectively before the talk. Visually confirm on the projector if possible.

5. Monthly report generated — Confirm the report file exists and contains all sections:

   Select-String -Path .\advocacy-report.md -Pattern "^## (Talks & Appearances|Content Published|Social Growth|Community|Learnings)"
   

   Expected: 5 matching lines.

Related Skills

• developer-audience-context — Know who you're reaching
• devrel-content — Written content strategy
• community-building — Community management
• open-source-marketing — OSS-specific advocacy
• hacker-news-strategy — HN engagement

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches its upstream source and local project context.
• Verify commands, generated code, dependencies, credentials, and external service behavior before applying changes.
• Do not treat examples as a substitute for environment-specific tests, security review, or user approval for destructive or costly actions.